Tag Archives: John August

I’ve been frustrated with the internet, nerd culture, and fanboyism at large for awhile now. For the longest time I couldn’t really put my finger on what was rubbing me the wrong way, but then I had a lightbulb moment while listening to the Scriptnotes episode in which John and Craig discussed the idea of “positive moviegoing.” Craig set out a very interesting method to watching film that resonated with me and got me to thinking about positivity in general. I realized that a lot of what was missing from the internet, nerd culture, and fanboyism at large was just that: positivity. Somewhere along the line we forgot to enjoy shit and instead turned everything into freaking Thunderdome.

That’s why Jandy and I have decided to make 2014 our Year of Positivity. Internet culture is built on extremism and it’s become too damn much. Nerd rages? Consider us over ’em. Hysterical tirades about that one flick that ruined our childhood forever? Nuh-uh, done-zo! Check out her post. She breaks the whole thing down further and even throws in an interesting twist to the concept; she picks out a “souvenir” from her entertainment, whether she likes it or not.

In light of Scriptnotes pushing me (and ultimately us) to this concept of a positive year, I’ll probably call my “souvenir” One Cool Thing, or Cool Things About [insert title here], or MAYBE even The John And Craig Of It All.

Will this plan be executed flawlessly? Probably not. I’m still a recovering cynical bastard and that tends to slip through sometimes. What I’m hoping this does is flush out most of the negativity in my system and give me a better outlook on my entertainment.

Been learning a lot as I trudge along in my screenwriting career. I say “trudge” because it’s a slow climb. I’m not writing the big blockbusters, nor am I cashing those fat checks. I’m not even stacking that coin. What I am doing is writing smaller shows for colleagues and developing my voice as a screenwriter. I’m trying things out to see what works and what doesn’t work. In screenwriting terms: total n00b. One of the major things this n00b has discovered is that specificity is important. No, seriously. I mean it. IMPORTANT in all-caps, bolded, and underlined. May seem like this is a no-brainer, and it kind of is a no-brainer except for the fact that the “generic stuff” still makes its way out into the hands of readers, execs, and even two prolific screenwriting podcasters. A recent episode of theirs made me think about specificity and how to get back into the mindset of putting things on the page boldly and with purpose.